Accompanied by heavy security, Broward, Palm Beach County members of Congress hold public event

January 10, 2011|By Anthony Man, Blog | Broward Politics

Amid an extraordinary security presence, three members of Congress from Broward and Palm Beach counties held a joint event Monday morning in Fort Lauderdale ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– the first such public gathering since a gunman on Saturday critically wounded one of their colleagues and killed six others.

U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– a personal friend of wounded Gabrielle Giffords ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– and U.S. Reps. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, and Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, had long planned to gather for the ceremonial event in the courtyard of the Broward's federal courthouse.

But the ceremonial swearing in of the three Democratic members of Congress from the two counties was much different than the similar events two and four years ago.

The courthouse flag was at half staff. Many of those present wore black. And the weekend events in Arizona were on the forefront of everyone's minds.

Speakers decried the supercharged rhetoric they said is all too common in current political debate.

"This tragedy must spark a new tone of civility in our discourse," Wasserman Schultz said.

Deutch said he took the ceremonial oath of office (repeating the official swearing in from last week) "with a bit of a heavy heart."

"The tragedy in Arizona tears at the fabric of our democracy," he said. "Today we gather in defiance of this horrific violence."

If anything positive comes out of that horrific act, Deutch said, it would be the country engaging more in "meaningful debate rather than flaming rhetoric."

Wilson ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– elected to Congress for the first time in November to a district that includes part of South Broward ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â– said, "These are perilous times in our nation and we must use these times to pray unceasingly."

Judge Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals, who administered the oath of office to the three members of Congress, said "the events in Tucson and the events this morning again remind of us the extraordinary sacrifices of our public servants who put themselves at risk every day."

She said officials are subjected to "daily verbal and written abuseÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â…. We have to work harder at working together."

Monday's event was mostly a gathering of several hundred political insiders, including dozens of local elected officials, plus students from the Manatee Bay Elementary School chorus.

Security was exponentially greater than the previous ceremonial swearing in events.

A dozen squad cars and SUVs from federal, county and city law enforcement agencies lined the Broward Boulevard and Third Avenue sides of the courthouse. Uniformed and plainclothes officers ringed the crowd. Access to the event was limited to one walkway. Police wearing bullet proof vests along with officers on horseback and motorcycles were also present.

Sheriff Al Lamberti, who was present, said multi agency discussions after the weekend shootings in Arizona led to the heightened security for the Monday event in Fort Lauderdale.

"The biggest thing to worry about is copycats," Lamberti said. "They see something like this and they think what a great idea."

Lamberti said he spoke personally to Wasserman Schultz and Deutch over the weekend and reached out to the county's other members of Congress: Wilson, U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D- Miramar, and Allen West, R-Plantation."

His message was that the sheriff's office is available should any need extra security. He said the Sheriff's Office was also in contact with the Miami office of the FBI over the weekend.